The work comes from ad agency Marketsquare.
Ikea Copenhagen is tackling a long-held misconception with a citywide outdoor campaign that turns one of the brand’s assets into the message. Often perceived as a ‘small-items-only’ store due to its central city location, the Copenhagen outpost is using oversized visual cues to make it unmistakably clear that larger furniture is very much on offer.
The execution is simple and smart. Copenhagen is wrapped in Ikea flat-pack boxes across buses, ad shelters and scaffolding banners, transforming everyday urban surfaces into its recognizable cardboard packaging. Each placement delivers a single, clear line: “Now the larger items are also in stock.”
“It’s one of those ideas that just feels right the second you hear it,” explained creative lead Jonas Quist Nielsen.
“We actually had two different teams coming up with the same idea and hearing it twice only made it feel even better. It’s so simple and easy to explain – and understand when you see it. We didn’t want to highlight specific products, but rather poke at people’s imagination. The Ikea flat-pack is iconic and the perfect way to tell the story about large items, without actually showing them.
“The brown cardboard is instantly associated with Ikea. And it’s funny to wrap a bus or a building as if it were an Ikea product. And, based on the feedback we’ve gotten so far, it’s also funny to look at.”
